Male model seeks adoring audience

The Stinker was reasonably accommodating about his ointment, today.  Unfortunately he had several new bloody spots around his eyes.  On the theory that something is biting him, I went and got his new fly mask out.  I asked him to model it for you:

Well, hello there

I'm working the Modern Horse look

But perhaps you prefer the ears rakishly tilted, darling?

I have fond hopes that he will still have it on tomorrow morning when I go to check on him.  I'm glad I'm checking on him twice a day, as I wouldn't have wanted to let any of the new spots go a whole 24 hours.  I emailed the vet to see what she thinks about my mystery bite theory.  Not Mystery the horse.  Mysterious insects.  Or other nasty bitey crawling/flying things.

In related news, my butt still hurts.  Pluto contributed to me injuring it a few years ago by leaving me hanging in the air, Coyote-style, before I fell several feet and crunched my sacro-iliac region.  And then he helped AGAIN a few weeks ago by rediscovering OMG CANTERING and also bucking.  I didn't help my case by working on sitting trot with him.  Thanks to my apparently weak spot, post-injury, I'm not sure if it will ever be reasonable for me to attempt sitting trot on a Lipizzan.  Or Lipizzan cross, as may be.

For you non-horsey folks, the difference between a Lipizzan trot and a non-Lipizzan trot is something like the difference between a home jogging trampoline, and a regulation gymnasium trampoline. They are both bouncy, but the home trampoline only gets you up a foot or two.  The gymnasium trampoline can boost you ten or more feet in the air and requires spotters.  (Note that I have ridden Pluto with spotters.)

I pondered today what it might mean to not be able to do sitting trot with my horse, and I decided I don't really care.  I do care if I can't canter him, but mostly I care because it isn't always an option to not canter.  Riders like to think they are in charge but it is a joint operation, folks.  If your horse really wants to canter, you are going to canter.  At least for a little while, until you negotiate something else.

So I'm okay with limiting my riding based on my frailties.  It's better than the other options, which are not riding, or not riding this particular horse.  And I want to ride this horse, because.. well, he's family.  He's my pal.  I want to keep him for the rest of his life.  Once he goes (around 2031, I speculate) I don't really intend to keep riding.  If he lives out his full span, I'll be about sixty and definitely ready to stick closer to the ground.

Possibly I'll be ready before then if he keeps it up with the bucking at the canter.